Saturday, November 14, 2020

CTHONIUS C: AIRKTOO'S ELECTROCUTING TRAVELOGUE

There's an anti-Olympian sector called cthonius c, in which sparking sounds saturate a vast grid...a realm represented by Airktoo the darkar, who rolls each treacherous strand with circuited craze.

The voyage begins by "barefoot": a trek that's anything but grass-soft on the soles, for its queued with bolts of cutting glass. 

The resulting pain is "basic", symbolized by sounds that slice and spurt slowly and ever deeper, into every wrong turn and panhandling passion. Before one realizes it, "humiliation" has set in, along with all the wired woe one can stand, with notes that shriek of chaotic tension. 

To save face, one becomes a screaming "scoundrel", doing bad deeds per the pretense of choice and desire. Throughout it all, one hears the fearsome strokes of one's devilish change, from humble hermit to crackling charlatan. 

"La flesh" is the place one then frequents, with cat-calling chambers of wanderlust and self-degradation. For a moment, one considers finding a new hiding place, but "neither society" is welcoming enough for that, and from this mocking rejection, a scratching fills one's ears--weighed with heavy hunger. 

But no matter where one connects, there's "no food" in sight, and the noises inside this expanding void are as full as they are empty. 

One has no "alternative" but to plug into the gluttonous sweeps and just "deserters". One roams with all the other cowards and crooks, in a vacuum vibration that sucks one in ever farther, ever further, straight into the behemoth bowels of cthonius c's cold, inescapable core. 

Shock the senses by visiting Airktoo's electrocuting travelogue at

https://adarcahianku.bandcamp.com/album/chthonius-c?fbclid=IwAR0PR5-WXcD9gbVfGHc78Cdd1BqjPLY_IYO083yH25Jx-T8-fk8cmUuNjNQ

Sunday, November 8, 2020

GOODBYE, JOHN FRASER...

Like any quality actor, you covered vast territory, including the historical, romantic and terrifying. 

For the silver screen, there was "El Cid"; "Tunes of Glory"; "The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships"; "The Desert Rats"; "The Dam Busters"; "Operation Crossbow"; "Waltz of the Toreadors"; "Loves of Three Queens"; "Fury at Smuggler's Bay"; "Titanic '53"; "The Horsemasters"; "The Good Companions '57"; "Isadora"; "The Trials of Oscar Wilde"; "Study in Terror"; "Repulsion"; and "Schizo".

You also made a fine impression on television, guest starring on such acclaimed favorites as "Doctor Who"; "Kidnapped"; "Danger Man"; "Columbo"; "Randall and Hopkirk"; "The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes"; and "Young Sherlock"; not to mention your enviable queue of stage productions. 

Indeed, you held your own with the best of them, Mr. Fraser: an actor of distinction and high caliber. Your creative contributions will surely endure, as will your suave and stalwart spirit. 

Saturday, November 7, 2020

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP IMAGE: STARK, STORM & INFINITUS

 

CARTOON CUTIES: VIEWER REVIEW


I recently shared an essay detailing my appreciation of Rock Baker's Cartoon Cuties with Rock's collaborator, Mark Holmes. Mark decided to make it the first of a new YouTube spot called Viewer Views. For the sake of "bizarrechats" (and to further promote Cartoon Cuties), I thought it might be nice to share the episode's "letter" portion here: 


Hello, I'm Michael Housel, a writer who has contributed reviews on Rock Baker's Cartoon Cuties. 

Cartoon Cuties means a lot to me and reflects the reading and viewing material of my childhood and teenage years. On this basis, I believe the content works on several, nostalgic levels, as I'll now explain: 

Rock's work features sweet characters--the Annies--who are a cartoon hybrid of critters and humans, while existing in a class all their own. These characters are curvaceous and often wear bikinis. They're easy on the eyes, that is, no matter which perception one throws upon them: a swell combination of innocence and sex appeal, if ever there was. 

Contrary to the concept's carefree surface, the Annie world, as it plays out in lovely Creek Bend, is an intricate and deep one. The characters have relationships, some of an amorous sort and others based on basic, heartfelt friendships. The Annies, therefore, aren't far removed from the people we know--the people we care about and love.

In this respect, it's easy to identify with them, and when they engage in something silly, they make us laugh, for we may have found ourselves in similar situations at one time or another. 

All of Rock's ladies are special and nuanced. Crissy Carrots is their alluring lead. I hold her in high regard, but Minerva Mallen is my favorite of the bevy. To say the least, her construction is unique. She holds skunk attributes, of all things, but embodies the best traits of classic, Hollywood actresses.

Then again, all of the Annies have old-time Hollywood charms: each dignified and attractive in the best pin-up way. They don't cuss or indulge in horrifying villainy. Again, they spring from a simpler time and place and are here now (thanks to Rock's creative generosity and Mark Holmes' deft assistance) to remind us of the way things once were--and should still be. 

I'm happy as a lark to see Cartoon Cuties sway from its comic-book and short-story roots to the Static-Mation shorts featured on YouTube. That's progression, all right, with another foundation established that (fingers crossed) will lead to another and another after that. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Rock's mythology is history in the making. There's no way to come away from his work without being moved. In other words, there's no way to come away from Cartoon Cuties without having become a fan. Watch the samples on this fine channel and dare tell me I'm wrong. 

Enjoy Mark's presentation at 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6JMjdAOBVE&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3iZGEJPgiOOX1H6z8lccEmQlwL1IPy37LH2G6I5NJyaSV19L23Hy29DJk